colin.barronLet’s hope the legal problems surrounding “Airline” are eventually resolved and it can be released on DVD. Wilfrid Greatorex actually died some years ago but perhaps his estate still has some legal say in what happens to “Airline”. Remember how Terry Nation’s agent had to give approval for use of the Daleks in the new “Dr Who” even though Nation died years ago.
In a similar vein have you ever wondered why the 1972-74 BBC series “Colditz” has never been released on DVD? Apparently the reason is that it was a co-production with a US TV company and they can’t agree who owns the rights.
Colin
colin.barronVery Disappointing
I saw the programme last night but found it very disappointing. In my view there was too much about the people involved and not nearly enough about the technological problems involved in shooting down Zeppelins.
If this same programme had been done by say the History Channel it would have been far superior.
Colin
colin.barronOther authors query these figures
Since Ethell and Price’s book was published in 1985 ,other authors have queried their figures. I would refer you to “The Royal Navy and the Falklands War” by David Brown which was published in 1987.
For example Ethell and Brown claim only three aircraft were shot down by Seawolf ,namely the three Skyhawks splashed by HMS Brilliant on May 12. However Brown mentions two other Seawolf kills – a Dagger brought down by HMS Broadsword on May 21 and a Skyhawk also destroyed by Broadword on May 23.
The first of these two kills (recorded on tape from a camera fitted to the Seawolf tracker) was shown on ITN news in 1982 and can be seen on the video “Gun Camera Action” (DD Video).
There is also the question of “HMS Coventry’s” kills. Brown’s book refers to two Skyhawks splashed by her Sea Dart some hours before she herself was sunk but these kills are not attributed to Coventry in the Ethell and Price Book.
Brown’s book also refers to an incident in which HMS Cardiff attempted to shoot down a Boeing 707 reconnaisance plane but the aircraft’s crew saw the missile coming and took violent evasive action which caused the Sea Dart to miss.
Colin
colin.barronWhen I first saw “Kelly’s Heroes” I thought that aircraft was a T-6. On viewing it many times I realised it was not a T-6 but a Yugoslavian made aircraft. I can’t remember the type’s name but it was profiled in “Warbirds Worldwide” some years back. Can anyone remember what the type was called. Was it the “Soko” ?
Colin
I just did some Googling and found the aircraft in question was a Soko 522. Check out http://www.airserbia.com and you can find a video clip of that scene from “Kellys Heroes”.
Colin
colin.barronDon’t forget the T6 Thunderbolt that strafes the guys in Kellys Heroes (truly the best war film ever) – don’t remember seeing the T6 190’s and Thunderbolts in A Bridge Too Far, what scenes were those?
When I first saw “Kelly’s Heroes” I thought that aircraft was a T-6. On viewing it many times I realised it was not a T-6 but a Yugoslavian made aircraft. I can’t remember the type’s name but it was profiled in “Warbirds Worldwide” some years back. Can anyone remember what the type was called. Was it the “Soko” ?
Colin
colin.barronDefinitely has something of the Bestmann about it, but only in a ‘character scale’ way. Tail, fuse, cockpit and fixed undercart suggest it – but for that radial engine…
(apologies for the awful quality of the photo, it’s cropped down from one with several other a/c in the frame…)
Was the Bestmann the aircraft that the James Garner and Donald Pleasance characters fly off in , in the film “The Great Escape?”
colin.barronI looked on IMDB and as the film was mainly shot in Spain and involved the Spanish military as extras, then I presume that they were from the Spanish Airforce, still airworthy as a result of the BoB film, I think that Patton is a great film, George C Scott is perfect in the role, my only problem with it is the p### taken out of the British, Montgomery in particular, but I can imagine that the opinions at the time worked both ways, it’s not surprising is it, great quote from the film is from Patton, ‘Hell, Montgomery and I are both Prima Donnas but I’m the only one that knows it’
Wierd, as I write this Monty has just been mentioned on Radio 2, shudder runs down spine.
I remember seeing “Patton” when it was first released and being very disappointed in it. My two main gripes were the technical inaccuracies – every tank is wrong for the period ,and also the “Anti British” and “anti Patton”
slant of the screenplay.
Colin
colin.barronThe crashed Heinkel used in “Piece of Cake” was a real one,ex-Whitehall Theatre of War etc as Bruce has described and the CAF’s airworthy one was used in one scene along with their Spit IX.
There was a discussion about the Heinkel crash scene in “Battle of Britain” on this forum about a year ago. Although various publications claim that a replica was used,recently unearthed photos prove that it was a real aircraft which had been accidentally damaged. If you do a search on past posts you will find the photos and discussions.
Colin
colin.barronI recall that the late Robert Rudhall mentioned the fate of all the Spanish Heinkels in his book on the “Battle of Britain” film.
One problem was that at the time the Spanish disposed of the aircraft (about 75-77) ,even though they were offered for a very cheap price they weren’t all that many people interested in buying these aircraft. Had this all happened 10 years later then they would probably all have been snapped up by various warbird operators in the UK and US.
I still have the programme for the September 1999 “Battle of Britain” film celebration organised by “Aeroplane” magazine.
The publication lists 13 surviving CASA 2 -111s out of a total of 32 used in the film including the CAF example which has since crashed and one cockpit section which at time was in Newton-le -Willows UK.
Colin
colin.barronWhatever happened to the Charles Church lanc
It was the ex-Strathallan Lanc. It was badly damaged when the roof collapsed on it at Woodbridge around 1997. Eventually it was sold to Kermit Weeks who still has it in Florida though some sections of the aircraft remained behind in the UK
Colin
colin.barronYes it sounds great doesn’t it. To clarify some points Peter Jackson made. Guy Gibson was born on 12.08.18 so he would be 24 at the time of the raid. Richard Todd was born on 11.06.19 so he would have celebrated his 35th birthday while the film was being made in the Summer of 1954.
Another point- I wonder if any of the Lancaster replicas will be passed on to aviation museums after filming is complete? After all several of the Battle of Britain film replicas are still extant in various museums nearly forty years after filming finished.
Colin
colin.barronI still have an original press cutting from The “Sunday Express” dated 19.08.90 about the “buried Lancs” story.
According to this report six Lancs were supposed to be buried in a field in South Humberside. The excavation project was organised by the Bomber Airfield Society lead by Dr Keith Percival-Barker.
The location was said to be “on the outskirts of a village near Brigg” close to a disused RAF airfield.
The report said that a Hamilcar glider was also buried there and (rather optimistically ) after recovery one Lancaster “was to be quickly assembled for flying” (sic).
Wishful thinking indeed!
Colin
colin.barronColin – spray painting brings in a whole host of regulations as to what happens with the spray that doesn’t hit the object you are trying to paint. It also tends to get over everything! If you don’t have a very good extraction system it’s not something you want to be trying with the public around.
Dear David,
I thought it might be something like this. In fact I visited East Kirkby in July 1996 and met the Pantons. I asked them if they had repainted the aircraft or were planning to do so. They said it still wore the paint that was applied by the RAF during its time as Scampton’s Gate Guardian. However they regularly applied a special preservative oil. They told me that they had considered repainting the aircraft but a guy who came to look into the feasibility of this was given one undercarriage door to do as a test . He couldn’t manage to strip the old paint off as it was so tough so they just left the aircraft as it was.
In recent years I have noticed that the paint was beginning to look a bit faded particularly the green/dark earth camo so this may have prompted the recent repaint. I presume the new paint has simply been applied over the old
finish?
Best Wishes,
Colin
colin.barronI notice on the website there is a piece about NX611 being repainted. It shows a guy doing the job with a tin of paint and a brush. Why was this method used and not spray painting? I know some of Duxford’s exhibits e.g. the Victor have been repainted in recent years using rollers to avoid the Health & Safety problems of sprays.
Colin
colin.barronI’ve been giving some thought to who might play the lead roles, and my suggestions are; Johnny Dep as Guy Gibson, and Christopher? you know the “doc” from back to the future as Barnes Wallis (to effect a breach in the dam would take a force equal to “1.21 gigawatts”
Johhny Depp is now in his 40s whereas Guy Gibson was 24 at the time of the raid and looked very boyish. Gibson was also quite short (about 5 ft 4 ins I think) as is Richard Todd. What we are looking for is a short boyish looking actor in his twenties. Can’t think of anyone famous who would fit the bill so a relative unknown will probably be cast.
Colin
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